Bentley You
Character Description Ben is a tall student with the physique of a figure-skater: low fat, all muscle. His height is often the source of name-calling and chastising, though he doesn't seem to care all too much until it starts to get repetitive. His black hair is usually in a slicked-back style, the sides being trimmed short and the top medium-length. Outside of his room, his hair is hardly ever out of place, except for when he's in a fight. Ben generally wears Aquaberry-brand clothing whilst on campus, his go-to being the long-sleeved sweater, the khakis, and dark brown or black loafers. In hotter months, he'll switch out his usual sweater for the Aquaberry sweatervest. But, in both instances, he wears a white dress shirt underneath. During the winter, his on-campus outfits are generally the same, but he adds black gloves, a charcoal peacoat, and a cobalt scarf. In town, he usually wears jeans, pastel button-ups over a black muscle shirt, and dark sneakers. In colder months, he switches out the button-ups for pullovers and turtleneck sweaters. He usually wears a silver watch on his right wrist. During winter, his street clothes have added a dark blue bubble jacket with a large fur-trimmed hood, black gloves, a pair of black boots, and a carmine scarf. Ben's nightwear is just a pair of grey Aquaberry sweatpants, a white t-shirt, and socks. At the ice rink, he'll usually wear a wool or fleece sweater over leggings or pants with stretchy fabrics. His Halloween costume is Jareth the Goblin King from The Labyrinth. Characteristics To those who aren't particularly close to Ben, he seems haughty and distant. While this is often true, this is mostly due to a lack of social finesse. He tries his best to overcome this, but usually only his close friends see his cozier, more animated sides. On the flipside, people who he hates will see this side of him too. Ben is a high-functioning Aspergers, and while that's neither here nor there, he does face his own social quirks that can sometimes get him into trouble. More than he'd like to admit, his empathy or sympathy doesn't kick in, and he'll glaze over a social clue. Jokes with double meanings often go over his head, and sometimes he will take jokes too literally, either because he doesn't understand them, or because he gets too excited about the subject matter and wants to actually talk about it in depth. This is more frustrating to Ben than anyone else. However, the more he gets to know a person, the easier it is for him to pick up on their style of sarcasm, and will actually emulate it in his own way after some time. Related, Ben keeps a rather reserved demeanour because he's self-conscious about being affected by Aspergers. His father had a bad habit of blaming Ben for his social barriers, and, even though Ben's mother and grandmother would try to reassure him that he wasn't at fault, he would get frustrated with himself for not being able to live up to his father's standards. All the nagging eventually put a lock and key over Ben's personality. As he grows older and more introspective, he break realizes that his personality isn't the problem, but the perception of him being 'wrong' or 'broken' is. Ben likes to keep certain schedules (i.e. morning workout, coffee, classes, workout, study.) He likes to have predictable day, and feels weird when he's thrown off his groove. Strengths Ben is a wonderful writer. He's got a very creative mind that translates well into written word. He's helped Mr. Galloway in the past with tutoring struggling students. Literature is very important to him, and always says that if a career as a professional figure skater doesn't work out for him that he'd go to university to get an English Masters. Physically, he's very apt. He's constantly practicing different routines and figure skating moves, honing his skills on the ice. It doesn't exactly translate to land, but he's fast and has good stamina. And, while it might not appears as so, he's quick and vicious in a fight. He doesn't advertise his physical prowess, but Derby Harrington often uses it to his advantage and sics Ben on people who need a scare or a beating. Ben doesn't have many friends, especially not in his own clique. The friends he does have are scattered throughout different cliques. He's very loyal to them and will help them without question. His family is also loaded. He's very wealthy, and he gets a stupidly hefty allowance from his parents every month. Not seeing why he shouldn't, Ben will share the wealth around with his friends, usually paying for shopping trips, lunches, gas, and so on. He's aware that some people try to cozy up to him for this, and sometimes he doesn't catch them in time before they use him a few times. But he's very generous with his money, and 100 per cent considers his opulence to be a major strength. Ben hyperfixates, and, while this is also frustrating, it gives him a chance to specialize in a certain interest very in-depth for a few weeks or so. By the end of period, he comes out of it with a good handful of interesting tidbits. He's very good at absorbing information and retaining it, so he usually needs to do a deep-dive on a particular thing once and he'll retain it for ages. The classes Ben excels at the most are English, Gym/Swimming, Home Ec., and Photography. Weaknesses Loud environments can send Ben into sensory overload. This means parties and school sporting events are stressful for him to attend, though he usually tries to anyways. This can also pose a problem sometimes when he's performing on the rink, but he counters this by using earplugs to block out a lot of the heavy noise. Ben hyperfixates on little things very easily, but also gets bored very quickly. Classes often feel like pulling teeth, and he'll spend a lot of in-class time thinking up new routines and tricks for his figure-skating performances. He also has a bad habit of skipping classes. He's good at catching up on things he may have missed, but that also means he spends more time studying. He also likes to keep moving. It's relentless, he simply can't stay still for an extended period of time. He's constantly tapping his fingers or shaking a foot or a knee, or rubbing his knuckles together. No one is safe from his energy levels. The classes Ben does the worst in are Shop (which he skips all to often,) Art, Drama, and Music. Social Standing Ben's social standing as a Preppy is unique in that he, somewhat openly, has friends in almost cliques. That being said, that puts him low on the totem pole in the Harrington House. The only person in his own clique he would actually consider as a friend is Gord Vendome, and this is mostly because of Gord's affinity for flirting with other clique members and his good sense of humour. Ben's best friend, second to Kelsey Glenn, is Aaron Glenn, who the Preppies are violently hostile towards. Tad Spencer's influence on the clique and his past altercations with Aaron make the friendship strenuous, resulting in impromptu scuffles if they are seen together by another Preppy. Normally this wouldn't be an issue with friends from other cliques, but Aaron's problematic relationship with the Preppies puts a damper on things. With most other friends in different cliques, Ben doesn't break out into a full-on fight. If he's compelled to do anything, he's most likely to just bully them (shoving them into a locker/waste bin, slinging verbal abuse, etc.) This is usually in the case of Derby or his right-hand men showing up. Though he isn't liked by all students, there is a good number of students who try romantic advances on him, despite the fact that he's never actually shown any desires to date. Background and Personal Life Romantic Relationships Ben never really considered dating until very late into his teens. His first real romantic interest was Aaron Glenn, although that's a level their relationship could never handle. Ben will nearly graduate university before he becomes romantically involved with someone again. Familial Relationships and Background Seok and Nari You moved their family and their businesses to America from South Korea two years after Ben was born and a year after Ok You, Ben's grandfather, passed away. They brought Jung You, his grandmother, to America with them to take care of her in her old age. Ben's family life is standard. His father is somewhat distant, but everyone chalks it up to a busy businessman lifestyle. He's close to his mother, but even closer to his grandmother, who he affectionately calls Halmoni. In South Korea, during her youth, Jung was a professional figure skater, an interest she passed on to Ben when he was very young. She still coaches him on the ice (from the side of the rink) and comes with him to every practice and tournament she can. Ben loves to learn about all things related to literature and linguistics, making being an English professor a secondary career option for him. His first would be professional figure skating. Literary Features/Related Pages * Quotes Images